Smiley Brookes
Smiley Brookes is an American singer-songwriter from Houston, Texas. She began her YouTube career in May 2010 and subsequently signed with several labels before signing with Banana Music in March 2013. She was later assigned to the Indigo Records division of Banana. She released her debut singles "Realize" and "Fire Burnin" in March and April 2013 respectively. History 'Early life' Smiley Brookes was born in Houston, Texas. She began singing when she was 3 years old, and and began song-writing when she was 9, at the same age she decided to pursue a professional music career. In 2008, she performed at her first talent show, where she impressed the crowd. She was subsequently invited to perform at weddings and venues. '2010–13: Beginnings and previous labels' Smiley launched her YouTube channel on 1 May 2010. She uploaded her first video a month later, in an introduction video where she stated she would mostly use her channel for vlogs and singing. Her first cover video was of "What Hurts the Most", originally recorded by Rascal Flatts in 2006. Later that year, she posted covers of songs such as Rihanna's "Unfaithful" and Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah". On 20 December, she posted a video of herself singing an original song "Forever Yours" - her first original song. The following year, she continued posting covers. On 7 June 2011, she posted a video of herself singing an original song entitled "Sunshine In Your Eyes". In April 2012, she announced she had been signed with an online record label entitled Holliwood Records. On 11 April, she released her first official single entitled "Swagg Like Whoa". In June, she moved to Sonny Zone Records. On 27 August, she began airing Stay Awake: Dreams Only Last for a Night, a reality program focusing on her life and musicvia her YouTube. On 5 September, the program was discontinued after four episodes. On 28 February 2013, she released "Realize" - an original song - through Imma Be Records as her second official single. '2013: ''The Smiley Brookes EP Unsatisified with her previous labels, Smiley auditioned for Banana Music on 6 March 2013. She was signed with the label two days later, and "Realize" was re-released on 9 March as her debut single under the Banana Music label. The single was featured in the 11 March episode of Banana Recordz Countdown as the program's New Release of the Week. Smiley's first promotional single, "Fire Burnin" - an original song - was released on 25 March 2013 after premiering on Banana Recordz Countdown the previous day. An extended reggae dubstep remix of the song was released on 6 April as her second official single with Banana Music. Shortly after this, she was assigned to Banana Music's subsidiary label, Indigo Records. "Fire Burnin" and "Realize" have both been certified Gold by the Banana Music Certification System as of November 2013. On 3 August 2013, it was announced that Brookes would release a mixtape extended play in 2014. The extended play, which had a working title of The Smiley Brookes EP, was intended to contain "Realize" and "Fire Burnin" as well as new songs. Banana Music Group removed Smiley Brookes' name and information from their website in October 2013. On 30 November 2013, Banana Music Group announced that The Smiley Brookes EP would be released in 2014 and will contain three songs. On 31 January 2014, it was announced that Brookes had been moved to Catalyst 14 Records. Banana Music Group issued a statement on 28 May 2014 stating that Brookes' contract would be terminated in July 2014 however The Smiley Brookes EP will be released prior to the termination. The extended play will feature "unreleased and unfinished material produced in a mixtape format" and will be released as a "precursor to Brookes' future projects outside of Banana Music Group". Discography '''Extended plays *''The Smiley Brookes EP'' (2014)